I want to start off by applauding Lilian Muli for adding her voice to the welfare of children who are often referred to as potential perpetrators. By highlighting the story, she touched on a subject that rarely makes headlines: the reality of juvenile offenders in Kenya. It is an important conversation we desperately need to have and explore.
Lilian Muli’s story is a powerful reminder that behind every label of “offender” is often a group of children who have been failed by societal systems, families, individuals and communities — children who are more of victims than they are potential perpetrators. While I am grateful to see her share about the plight and potential of young offenders at Kamae Girls, one of Kenya’s borstal institutions, I want to push this a little bit further, by sharing what I am learning from years of working at Lifesong Kenya.
At Lifesong Kenya, we see this reality every single day. Having started off as a reading club that evolved into a prison program, I have interacted with boys who are often viewed by the society as potential perpetrators, whether they are suspected to be involved in petty crimes, wrongfully accused or otherwise.
The society considers, treats and sees young male offenders as potential perpatrators and threats first, before they are considered as children who are in need of rescue, protection, care, healing and restoration. Even when overwhelming evidence is right in front of us — child abuse, neglect, abandonment, exploitation, violence and sexual assault that points to systemic failure — we still treat boys and young men as potential perpetrators.
We ask, “What did he do?” before we ever ask, “What happened to him?”
We ask, “Why is this happening to him?” before we ever ask, “What kind of a boy is this?”
“What did he do to deserve this?”
“He must have done something bad for his to get arrested!”
In 2005, I got arrested and spent 8 days behind bars and most of those who knew me treated me as a criminal. No one wanted to know what I had done to get arrested or why I was freed while a friend I was living with ended up going to court and getting convicted. After spending eight days behind bars, I left with a scar and understand what it means to feel unseen, to carry a wound that the world doesn’t want to acknowledge. That experience is part of what drives me today, being treated as potential perpetrators!
Why We Should Stop Treating Boys as Potential Perpetrators
At Lifesong Kenya, our Halfway House in Kajiado County works with boys who have come into conflict with the law. These are not hardened criminals. They are boys who have been failed — by families, by communities, by child protection systems that should have protected them. Many arrive having experienced trauma that would break any adult. Yet the label “offender” follows them like a shadow, erasing their pain and reducing them to a statistic.
Our work is simple but vital: safe housing, counseling, education, and skills training. We give these boys what they never had — a place to heal, to be heard, and to rebuild. And we do it because we believe that every boy, regardless of his background or brokenness, deserves the chance to become a purposeful, contributing man.
The Cost of Being Treated as Potential Perpetrators
In 2021, we added transitional housing to our work where we are providing safe housing, counseling, Co-Active coaching, education, outdoor learning experiences and skills training, which expanded my knowledge and understanding of the complexity that comes with rescuing, supporting, caring for and reintegrating boys back to their families and communities.
Many of these boys arrive at our shelter having experienced violence, abuse, exploitation, neglect or sexual assault — yet they are often treated as potential perpetrators who are met with judgment rather than compassion.
The narrative needs to shift. Boys and young men are not “potential perpetrators” to be feared. They are boys who need healing, guidance, restiration and a second chance.
How You Can Help
I am grateful to Lilian Muli for paving the way for more journalists to highlight the plight and welfare of young offenders. Through her sharing, the society will see the harm that happens when we treat vulnerable children as potential perpetrators. I hope that more people will consider visiting to Kamae Girls and boys who are in juvenile prison.
We welcome anyone — including Lilian Muli and other individuals — who would like to visit our Halfway House to see firsthand how love, structure and opportunity can rewrite a boy’s story. Your visit can be the spark that will transform a boy’s life and life direction.
🤝 Visit Our Halfway House and come see what happens when a child is treated as a human being instead of a case file. Come understand why the question shouldn’t be “How do we punish them?” but “How do we heal them?”
💰 Donate to Support a Boy’s Future Every donation goes directly towards housing, counseling, coaching, education, and skills training for a boy who has nowhere else to turn. No amount is too small.
👉 Donate Now — to provide housing and a place to call home.
🙋 Volunteer Your Time and Skills and help with academic tutoring, vocational training, mentorship sessions, and outdoor activities like camping and hiking.
📣 Share This Story Help us change the narrative. Share this post with your network. Tag someone who needs to read it. The more voices we have, the faster we shift from punishment to restorative justice.
The narrative needs to change. These boys are not our enemies. They are our sons, our brothers, our future. And they need us to see them — really see them — before it’s too late.
